This week, the US Department of Transportation and the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration rolled out their upgraded 5-Star Safety
Ratings System for new autos. According to US Transportation Secretary
Ray LaHood, the enhanced ratings system raises the safety bar and they
will be tougher to meet. Beginning with the 2011 models, the ratings system
will assess the safety of passenger vehicles, vans, SUVs, and pickup trucks
in the areas of side crash, frontal crash, and rollover system. An Overall
Vehicle Score that combines results from all three areas will be provided.
The score will compare the results to the other vehicles’ potential
for both vehicle rollover and risk of injury. Hopefully, this enhanced
system will compel automakers to make safer cars that are free from dangerous
auto defects.
Already, under the new system, only the Hyundai Sonata and BMW 5 Series
have received five star ratings. Under the previous system, a lot more
cars had received the maximum rating. For example, after earning five
stars for its nearly identical vehicle in 2010 the Toyota Camry, received
just three stars for its 2011 model.
The enhanced system will also assess side pole crash testing and crash
prevention-technologies. The side-impact oblique pole test simulates a
single auto hitting a utility pole or tree or getting hit from the side
by a higher-riding auto. This test is a supplement to the older side barrier
crash test. Also, for the first time, female crash test dummies are being
used during simulated crash sequences. A female dummy will be used in
the front passenger car seat during frontal crash testing and in the driver’s
seat during the pole test.
33 2011 model vehicles have been tested so far under the new auto safety
rating system. Most of them, except for the Toyota Camry and the Camry
Hybrid, which also received three stars, and Nissan’s Versa, which
received two stars (the lowest score of all the vehicles tested), received
four stars. NHTSA Administrator David Strickland says the government wants
consumers to embrace the available safety technologies, such as lane departure
warning, electronic stability control, and forward collision, and take
them into consideration when choosing which car to buy.
However, safety officials are cautioning consumers not to compare ratings
that cars received under the old system and the new one. They say that
a vehicle receiving less stars under the new system is more about having
to do well under tougher tests and not about the vehicle being less safe.
Auto Products Liability Hopefully, the new auto ratings system will decrease the number of injuries
and deaths that result each year because of auto defects. Automakers must
make sure that not only that their vehicles equipped with the proper safety
equipment, but also that there are no design or manufacturing flaws that
can cause a catastrophic car crash.
New U.S. crash tests: Only Hyundai Sonata, BMW 5 get 5 stars, USA Today, October 5, 2010
New Federal Auto Safety Rating System Takes Effect, The New York Times, October 5, 2010
Related Web Resources: View the List of 2011 Vehicles that Have Been Rated Under the New System (PDF)
5-Star Safety Ratings